What determines Good Service when you are on a cruise?

[Big_G]

For me it's simple, if I walk off a ship with nothing to complain about then I'd classify that as good service. If I walk off a ship thinking, "Wow, that was a great cruise," then we're talking excellent service. I've never experienced bad service so I don't know what I'd be thinking walking off the ship after such an experience. :D

[gumboroux]

We have cruised with Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Carribean . The service has always been impeccable, excep for one guy who worked late at night In the snack bar on the Serenade of the Seas. When young women would go to him, he would smile at them and talk. When we (and other older people that we saw) would go get something he would stare at us with a really hateful stare. One waiter in the atrium always had a smile for us. Our waiter in the MDR knew our name and preferences and was very personable. These good people more than made up for the late night jerk. We did tip them above what we had paid in advance because of excellent service. When we received the questionnaire from RCL you can bet all of this was mentioned! We are not demanding people, and we respect the people giving us service. The workers on a ship are making the sacrifice to be away from their families in order to provide for them. They are the ones that can make a cruise experience great.

Excellent service is seamless with a professional friendly attitude.

[Desert Cruizers]

We don't require much so as long as the service is very good to excellant, we are greeted with a smile, we have an enjoyable cruise. Our favorite room steward was this past March & April on the ROS, we wanted to take her home, she was so personable and went out of her way to make everything perfect for us. Myself I am very easy going so don't get upset with people coming from the opposite directed to get something at the food station, I am in no hurry so can wait. There are times I probably should speak up, but let it slide and move on. I am more bothered by people jumping into the elevator without letting others off.

[gumboroux]

In general, my thoughts are similar to yours (add keep ice bucket filled). Note, that we try to keep the room tidy. Stewards should not have wade through unnecessary clutter to do their jobs. If the above are met, with basic courtesy and politeness (from staff to me and me to staff), I am quite content. In service industries, these should be minimum expectations. All cruise lines, with an occasional issue, meet this criteria consistently. I do not expect them to anticipate my changing desires.

 

 

 

The things that I notice are the "over and above". Greetings exchanged with stewards and wait staff. The steward who checked in on my slightly seasick spouse gets high marks. Even more so, greetings from crew who do not directly serve passengers, like the people who keep the public areas clean. I see them often on all cruise lines. It's one of the things that make the cruise experience different from the land experience.

 

 

 

In my mind, the true definition of a cruise line's service committment comes when things go wrong. That is when the corporate committment is most evident. Stewards and servers easily figure out that friendlieness and service = increased tips. If land based or onboard customer service people have to make things right, then the bottom line is potentially impacted (even if only a little). From the number of threads on the subject, this is where cruise lines often fail.

 

 

Ditto

[Goodtime Cruizin]

I had to leave in my reply your comment about Customer Relations. In my company we have a "10 foot -10 second Rule". It means if you come across a customer within 10 feet of you, then within 10 seconds, just smile or nod your head. The goal is simple contact -- not necessary to engage in a conversation unless the customer opens it up. But it will go a long way to improve the image of Customer Relations. We are a fairly large scale retailer, and yes we have responsibilities for merchandising etc, but nothing should stop an employee from being able to employ the "10 foot - 10 second Rule". Yet some employees still can't/won't do it.

 

I've never heard of the 10 foots 10 second rule but I like it.

 

In fact, my initial response to this thread was, a "Smile". I truly recognize that there are many, many people on th ship to serve and assist. But when I come across someone for the 2nd time on the ship that is not happy, smiling and wanting to do their jobs, I first report them and then 2nd avoid them. I've only done this once but the bartender clearly did not want to be around. He never smiled and was always grumpy. I avoided him after my 2nd encounter.

 

I typically will go out of my way to engae my servers, get & use their names. I have found that they tend to do the same in return.

[Langley Cruisers]

We are easy to please and have never had bad service from RCCI. ... We ask for ice in our cabin. We keep our cabins neat, tidy and everything put away. As I pass down the hall with doors open, I'm always stunned when I see the mess some passengers leave...

 

...We've had some crew and staff that were better than others, but never bad service....

 

griffy116, I've quoted two of your posts because this is how we feel as well. We take everything with a light heart, keep our room orderly, don't make outrageous demands or requests, and try not to sweat the small stuff. Life is short and precious.

 

I've often wondered if the "good" service we receive is actually outstanding and worthy of additional tips? I mean, I know it's a personal decision... but where's the line between good, great, and outstanding?

 

Our last B2B cruises, we realized just how amazing our cabin steward had been, after we came home. :( I just got to thinking about it and man, she was right on top of everything for the entire 2 weeks. Was that good, great, or outstanding? *shrug*

 

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[BillOh]

i've only received poor service a couple of times in 10 cruises. One I learned how to avoid. Don't go near the pool bar with one of the coke refill glasses in your had, you will be ignored. I went to get a beer and refill my wife's diet coke and finally had to speak up to get my beer, it was obvious he didn't want to refill the coke, which I didn't ask him to. I've seen that one happen a few times to others.

 

The only other thing I've had happen was extraordinarily slow, but other wise pleasant service in Jewel's dining room last May. We were absolutely the last table to leave every night and nearby tables were getting dessert before we got our appetizers. I'd never seen the dining room staff ready the room for breakfast like we did while we were still eating.

 

These two stand out amongst all the good and great service we have had.

Edited September 29, 2014 by BillOh

[bigque]

All our attendants at a bar, in the room or at dinner, we start right off by breaking the ice by smiling, laughing, joking, introducing ourselves, etc and it has worked for us each time to have enjoyable service during the cruise. If you go into it thinking that they all owe you something and you have the personaility of a rock and are of the demanding type, you are gonna receive the service you are going to complain about later. I know I wouldn't want to be doing their jobs and be like......"DAM*...... I have to go down to their room...I hope they are not there" or the bartender......"DAM*........Here comes these idiots" or the MDR......"DAM*.....I wonder what they are going to complain about tonight??!" Through it all, even though they think it, they still smile! :cool:

[Cinders411]

We are pretty easy to please and keep our cabin tidy. Just want kindness and consideration that's about it.

[Doug S]

Service is usually excellent on our cruises. That is the norm. Sometimes it is obvious that the worker is running on empty but not often, and I can forgive a bit of that anyway with the hours they put in.

 

The only bad service that really sticks in my mind was at Johnny Rockets last Nav Cruise. Young lady was so slow many diners were seated after us and left before we were even served more than our sodas. She had 2 tables and we were both pretty much ignored and miffed. Manager had to step in and apologize to both tables and handle our orders. I don't think that waiter lasted long.

 

The employees that stand out to me and make cruising special are the ones that make a personal connection. Most of the staff can be diligent and keep the ice bucket full or make sure your water glass is never empty, but most of these can still seem a bit distant, which is OK. The really personable ones are a bit more rare. Examples that come to mind... Had a head waitress from Romania on a Princess cruise to Hawaii that the wife and I wanted to bring home and adopt. Can you adopt a 28 year old? Really nice young lady. Had one bartender at the Champagne bar who was far more engaging and genuine than most and became a friend. Last cruise wife and I happened to keep running into CD and activities director. Had some very fun conversations with them and they became more than the 2 goofballs doing the daily show on the stateroom TV.

[NewSalt]

I would classify all of the service we've received on cruises, some more good than others.

 

I found the room steward on our Explorer cruise this summer to be outstanding. Pleasant and friendly but not creepy, as a PP put it. He was invisible until you needed something, and then he was right there and took care of your request amazingly quickly. Nothing difficult, just ice or additional room service request cards, but it was still nice to have it done so quickly. I don't know how he knew when we left our room, but as soon as we did, he was in there cleaning, and he did a terrific job. We keep everything put away neatly, so I don't know if he would have done the shoe-straightening thing, but the room was always in perfect condition, and the bathroom positively gleamed.

 

We had a long walk from our cabin to the elevators, and the room stewards we passed every day were so friendly and nice to our grandsons. By about the third day, the 15-month old would begin to run to give one a high five and have a race with another.

 

I would classify all of our table servers as good, but one on Princess did stand out. One evening at dinner I must have overdone the rolls and appetizers because I simply could not eat much of my dinner. He asked me if there was something wrong with it and offered a replacement. When I told him I simply wasn't hungry, he seemed so concerned that I began to think he was the reincarnation of my mother.

 

We travel with our grandsons, who have several severe food allergies. We have been blessed with two maître d's who were beyond outstanding. Joseph on the Celebrity Summit and Ashton on Explorer this summer made our vacation. They were extremely knowledgeable and helped us find foods that the boys could eat and WOULD eat. They made sure that the staff knew what we needed and provided it even when they weren't there.

 

IME, cruise ships provide the quality of service of five-star hotels without the accompanying superior attitude.